


Fallback Plans

by Kinni



Series: Ultimate Chapter 6 Multiverse [1]
Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different Mastermind (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Personality Swap, Alternate Universe - Talentswap (Dangan Ronpa), F/F, F/M, Gen, Mystery, One Shot, Protagonist Himiko, Rival Kaede, chapter 6
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 07:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15813942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kinni/pseuds/Kinni
Summary: The fifth trial is over. Kaede Akamatsu has been executed, but Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Detective, feels like she is missing something. Inconsistencies continued to pile up, and she soon realizes the existence of a big secret behind the recent events.However, inside that secret there is a chance, a chance to finally defeat the Killing Game.





	Fallback Plans

Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Detective, was feeling an intense level of frustration.

If she were to try and pinpoint exactly when that started, it would have to be during the fourth trial, the one who had ended with Shuuichi being executed for the murder of Miu. The feeling had started there, small at first but growing increasingly strong as the days passed, and reached a boiling point after Kaede's execution on the previous day.

It felt like there was something she was missing, something huge. And as a detective, that was the most frustrating feeling she could have. It wasn't like the pieces of the puzzle didn't fit together, but like there was a whole other segment of the puzzle missing, and there were only faint traces of it even existing, much less clues to what it was.

Perhaps that was connected with the larger issue of the killing game. She had promised herself to stop it ever since Tenko's death, but none of her efforts had bore any fruit, and the closest she got was managing to obtain Angie's video, which solved quite a few mysteries regarding her.

The Ultimate Survivor. A special title given to a participant of a previous game. It was both a blessing and a curse, as it seemed to entail forgetting one's original talent and the memories of the previous game, in exchange for some inside information.

Angie was the first student to be executed, having killed Kaito under the belief that he was the mastermind who controlled the whole Killing Game, trying to end it before it even started.

The video found in her Lab explained what the Ultimate Survivor was, but it didn't explain her belief in the existence of a “Mastermind”. That was solved by Kaede.

The Cosplayer had with her a special Monopad she had apparently swiped from Angie while she was hugging her right before the execution. Kaede had kept it secret all the way until after the fourth trial, when Angie's lab was opened. That special Monopad contained a message regarding the mastermind, as well as a map of the school, including even secret passages.

Kaede... The feelings Himiko held towards the Ultimate Cosplayer were complicated. Kaede had deliberately given Rantaro the Motive Video she received, which caused him to kill Keebo and end up executed in the second trial. And then, after Tenko and Gonta were killed, she helped Himiko figure out the true killer: Kirumi.

And the Detective was still unable to understand how could the Ultimate Pianist, who used her talent to try to lift the spirits of the others, be the same person as the twisted killer who had been revealed at the trial.

And even later on, Kaede had killed Tsumugi. The Ultimate Magician was a strange person, who had manipulated the others to set herself up as the ruler of the ultimates... But Himiko still felt like her intentions had been good, and only the methods misguided. She didn't deserve to die. And Kaede had refused to explain her reasons for killing the other girl, only saying it was “necessary”.

The fact that Kaede was very attractive, and didn't hesitate to take advantage of Himiko's weakness against girls... only made things even more complicated.

Yeah, the Detective understood her own emotions, and she knew about her own partiality in regards to girls. It had become extremely clear during Kirumi's trial, and from them on, Himiko had decided to not let such things cloud her vision. But of course, saying and doing were two different things.

Himiko shook her head. Her thoughts were going in circles and she wouldn't be able to conclude anything like that. Perhaps her friends would be able to give some insight.

+0+

She found Maki and Ryoma in the dining room. They were together, as it was often the case ever since the fourth trial. Maki was actually smiling, something that would have been inconceivable during the first stages of the game.

The Ultimate Anthropologist had often claimed to have no reason to live, but despite that she managed to survive until that point. It was ironic.

The Ultimate Astronaut, on the other hand, was a very stable individual, who managed to keep himself together remarkably well, even during some of the worst times. That alone made him one of the most vital members of the group.

“Himiko? Do you have something in mind?” Her pondering was interrupted by Ryoma's words.

She didn't beat around the bush “I feel like I'm missing something. It felt like something was wrong ever since Shuuichi's execution. Or rather, ever since his trial.”

There was some silence while the two thought about that, and then Maki spoke up:

“I don't know exactly how to interpret it, but I felt that Kaede's actions during the fourth trial were strange.”

Himiko motioned for her to continue. The Anthropologist seemed to be trying to choose each of her words carefully.

“It seemed like Kaede wasn't really focusing that much on the trial.” She spoke “You must have noticed that she didn't interfere with things as much as she usually did. It seemed like she had something else in mind the entire time.”

Himiko nodded thoughtfully “So it seems like there was something going on at least ever since that trial, and Kaede was already aware of it.” She closed her eyes and thought “And if she was thinking so hard, maybe her actions later on had to do with it.” She concluded.

Both Maki and Ryoma nodded and promised to tell her if they thought of something else. Himiko left to look for the other two survivors and get their input. The first one she found was Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Robot.

Himiko had always considered him a pretty weird person. Obsessed with the nature of humanity, he claimed to consider all of humanity beautiful, even the ugly parts, and it didn't seem to be a lie, as he didn't have a single bad word about any of the killers, even Kirumi. Apart from that, he was level-headed and didn't tend to be drawn along by flawed theories as much as the others.

“It seems like you have something on your mind.” Kokichi said when Himiko approached him.

“I have a lot of things, actually.” Himiko said “But I wanted to ask you something in particular.”

“Oh, a question from Himiko. That's very interesting. I shall try my best to answer it.” Kokichi said.

“Okay, I wanted to know if you noticed anything strange starting with the fourth trial.” Himiko asked.

It took only a moment for him to respond “As a matter of fact, I did notice something.”

Himiko motioned for him to go ahead.

“There was a pattern that was broken on the fourth trial.” He explained “Monokuma is a very advanced robot, but that's just it, a robot. So he has his own patterns of artificial intelligence. In each trial, he acted in a subtly different way.

“In the first trial, he was more mocking. Taking our words and making fun of us, joking about the pain of the victim... That sort of thing. In the second trial, he was more threatening. Insisting that there was no escape, explaining about the mass execution he had planned in case we voted wrong... In the third trial, Monokuma was helpful, giving hints and acting encouraging.” Kokichi spoke.

“However, in the fourth trial, he was helpful once again, instead of changing his personality once more. And the same thing repeated on the fifth trial.” He pointed out “It wasn't like he was repeating his lines or anything, but his overall demeanor was the same, like he kept being on the same 'setting'.”

Himiko thought back to the trials “Now that you mention it, that really seems to be the case.” She shook her head “This is yet another strange clue to this mystery.”

Kokichi smiled up at her. It was a strange feeling, since she was used to being the shortest person in the room “I'm sure you'll be able to solve everything. I have seen your efforts ever since the beginning.”

Himiko couldn't help but smile a little bit at his trust. She would never have thought that something like that would have been possible when she first met Kokichi, but by that point she could honestly say that she considered him a friend.

Finally, there was one more friend that Himiko wanted to talk to, and in many ways, they were the opposite of Kokichi. While it had taken a while for her to get along with Kokichi due to his personality, despite the fact that otherwise he had no suspicious points, Korekiyo was someone whose personality was such that he had easily gotten along with her right from the start, despite her great distrust of men and the multiple suspicious points related to him.

Just to start, his talent was Ultimate Supreme Leader, which was already something inherently suspicious, but Korekiyo also wore a mask all the time (apparently even in the bathroom) which was something that Himiko also found incredibly suspicious, and that was not to mention how he had, for the longest time, refused to explain how he had come to gain that title, always insisting that it was a secret.

However, his personality was just so innocent and childlike that Himiko simply wasn't able to bring herself to suspect him, and he had proven that impression to be justified all the way throughout the game.

“Ah, hello Himiko.” Korekiyo greeted her when she approached.

“Hello, Korekiyo.” Himiko replied to him.

“Seems like you have something to talk about.” He pointed out “Can Korekiyo help with anything?” He asked.

“I've been thinking about the fourth trial, and everything from there on.” Himiko spoke plainly “I've talked with the others, and there's definitely something unusual going on. I wonder if there's anything you noticed.”

Korekiyo put a hand on his chin and started thinking deeply. Himiko waited patiently, hoping that he would be able to give her yet another clue to that mystery.

And her hopes were answered.

“Korekiyo thinks... There was something happening with Tsumugi.” He spoke.

“With Tsumugi?” Himiko was interested. No one else had mentioned anything to do with Tsumugi.

“Tsumugi looked like she was having fun.” Korekiyo clarified “Only other time she felt like that was when Tsumugi was doing her magic show.”

“So Tsumugi was also up to something... And she ended up dead...” Himiko closed her eyes and added that particular element to the list of things she had to consider.

Himiko then talked to Korekiyo about the things she had learned thus far, and asked him to tell her if he managed to remember anything else. After that, she returned to her room.

There was much thinking to be done.

+0+

Sitting down with legs crossed on her bed, Himiko closed her eyes and visualized the various clues and hints she had managed to track down as bubbles floating freely around herself.

She wasn't trying to join them together, but simply looking at the broader patterns they worked towards. That was because a mystery wasn't like a puzzle, where you just had to put the pieces in the right places.

A mystery could be called that because many of the pieces were actually missing, so what was there had to be deduced by looking at the parts that were there and working out not only what should logically be on the missing spots, but perhaps more importantly: What should logically not be there.

As she went about her process, Himiko wasn't looking for absolute facts, but for the paths of thought that proved to be more consistent with the evidence.

And the broad trend that emerged pointed towards a single conclusion: There was some kind of plot going on, something that involved both Kaede and Tsumugi, although she wasn't certain if they were working together, or their plans just happened to collide.

The root of everything was Miu's death and the subsequent trial. There was something unusual about it, something that Kaede noticed even at the trial, and something Himiko herself had only barely perceived, such that she wasn't even truly aware of it.

Somehow, both Kaede and Tsumugi had realized it, and decided to take advantage of it. That was the most likely sequence of events. Now, the most important point was: Why did things end up that way? Did whatever plans they had fail, which led to them both dying, or did one or both of them get exactly what they wanted?

It would be difficult to judge that with Tsumugi, but Kaede was a different story. During the fifth trial, Himiko had been able to observe her closely, this would be after Kaede had killed Tsumugi, and as such her reactions there could be used as a measure of how things went for her.

And in conclusion... There were many contradictory elements.

That wasn't actually a problem, in fact, Himiko actually preferred for things to be that way. The real world wasn't neat and simple enough that one could avoid contradictory elements, specially in such a chaotic situation. That was just one more clue whose meaning she had to unravel.

In fact, if things were fully neat and tidy, Himiko would instantly suspect some sort of setup.

Kaede's actions were similar to that of the other killers during their own trials... But that in itself was a contradiction. Now that Himiko thought about it carefully, it seemed more like she had been imitating them. She could even point to a few instances in the trial where Kaede's actions had been remarkably similar to specific moments in previous trials. But even without that, Himiko felt that Kaede would act differently if she was truly trying to evade the blame. Her actions in the trial had simply been too... normal.

However, after the verdict had been announced and Kaede was about to be executed, she was unmistakably afraid. It wasn't like someone whose plan was going perfectly. She was definitely trying to hold herself together, but couldn't help to be afraid at the prospect of being executed.

However... She also didn't seem to be resigned either.

That thought felt important, so Himiko put it in a prime position and looked at the other bits of deduction using that as a guiding line. Theories after theories passed through her mind, and she mentally cataloged them while dividing them in groups.

Soon, the groups containing the most likely theories were pushed upwards, and Himiko started to get a better understanding of what might have happened. Kaede... Tsumugi... Monokuma... Shuuichi... Miu... All of those characters and their relations to the events...

She suddenly opened her eyes in shock. Himiko still wasn't quite certain of the truth, but she had whittled down the possibilities to a certain subset. And if she was right... Then that would mean things weren't over yet.

Himiko jumped out of bed and left her room, running to check on her friends. However, her thoughts were confirmed in the most sudden way possible.

“A body has been discovered. Please, come to the library to start the investigation.” Came the announcement.

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is. The start of another series of mine. This one will focus on oneshots depicting the finale chapters of alternate versions of the game.
> 
> This one has two gimmicks: Talent Swap and Personality Swap. Here is a list of swaps:
> 
> Tenko – Kaede Personality – Tennis  
> Tsumugi – Angie Personality – Magician  
> Himiko – Tenko Personality – Detective  
> Shuuichi – Kirumi Personality – Assassin  
> Maki – Ryoma Personality – Anthropologist  
> Ryoma – Keebo Personality – Astronaut  
> Kokichi – Korekiyo Personality – Robot  
> Kirumi – Kaito Personality – Pianist  
> Kaede – Kokichi Personality – Cosplayer  
> Angie – Miu Personality – Survivor  
> Kaito – Tsumugi Personality – Aikido  
> Gonta – Rantaro Personality – Inventor  
> Miu – Shuuichi Personality – Maid  
> Rantaro – Himiko Personality – Entomologist  
> Keebo – Maki Personality – Artist  
> Korekiyo – Gonta Personality – Supreme Leader


End file.
